Russian Zapovedniks (Nature Preserves) & Wolves / Заповедники России и волки

Заповедники России и волки

In Russia, systems of specially protected natural territories (SPNA) cover 10.2% of the country’s territory and include, in particular, 111 nature reserves, including 42 in the European part of the country (1.59% of the Russian territory), 35 state national (0, 41%), 49 regional nature parks (0.8%), 69 state federal nature reserves (0.73%), 4276 state regional nature reserves (5.9%), about 10 thousand natural monuments (0.2%) and other categories of protected areas. The central link in the system of protected areas is state nature reserves. These are territories in which any economic activity is completely prohibited and not just certain types of plants and animals are protected, but entire natural communities in a natural state.

The largest of the Russian reserves are the Big Arctic (more than 41 thousand km²), Komandorsky (more than 36 thousand km²) and Wrangel Island (more than 22 thousand km²). The smallest reserves in Russia are Belogorye (over 21 km²) and Prioksko-Terrasny and Galichya Gora (both less than 50 km²). Most reserves (in number) are located in the Krasnoyarsk, Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories.

Seven subspecies of wolves live in Russia: Eurasion Wolf (Canis lupus lupus), Tundra Wolf (Canis lupus albus), Russian Wolf (Canis lupus communis), Steppe Wolf (Canis lupus campestris),,, Caspian Sea Wolf (Canis lupus cubanensis), Tibetan Wolf (Canis lupus filchneri), Mongolian Wolf (Canis lupus chanco) Government-supported extermination of wolves largely ceased after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result, their numbers stabilized to some extent, although they are still legally hunted. According to rough estimates, almost 15,000 Russian wolves are killed every year due to the sale of furs and because of conflict with people and persecution. The study of wolves was largely discontinued due to lack of funding.

Live broadcast from the camera installed in the enclosure near the wolves in the Voronezh reserve:

Daursky reserve

Daursky Reserve. Wolves researching. In 2015 in Daursky Nature Reserve scientists started to mark wolves with the mobile module transmitters. It is the quickest and the cheapest way to get information about wolf movements. Transmitters send SMS messages about wolf locations to the software of Reserve.